Real sugar comes from plants
Real sugar is made by sugar beet and sugar cane plants grown and harvested by farmers. The same pure sugar found naturally in the plant is what ends up in your pantry after simple processing.
Sugar is added to foods for more than just sweetness
Real sugar has been used in recipes for generations, often for reasons that go far beyond its sweet flavor. Sugar plays many key functional roles and it can improve the palatability of some nutrient-dense foods, making them more enjoyable to eat. For example, in whole grain, fiber-rich bread, sugar balances bitter flavors, contributes to the texture, feeds the yeast to help the bread rise, aids in browning, helps with moisture retention and increases shelf-life. In ice cream, sugar lowers the freezing point which allows the cream to freeze slower, preventing ice crystals from forming and giving it a smooth texture. Even in foods that don’t taste sweet, a little sugar can play important functional roles.
When sugar is removed from a food, new ingredients (usually more than one) must be added to replace both the flavor and functionality of sugar.
Sugar goes from plant to product in four basic steps
Real sugar is a simply processed ingredient. It is extracted from the plant, washed with water, crystallized and dried. Sugar in its purest form is white or clear.
Sugar has a place in a balanced diet
Sugar plays a role in a healthy, balanced diet by adding flavor and function that help people enjoy a wide variety of foods. Because of this, the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations allow for up to 10% of total calories per day to come from added sugars as part of a health dietary pattern. This includes added sugars in nutritious foods and occasional sweets and treats. In a 2,000-calorie diet, this equates to 50 grams or 12 teaspoons of added sugars per day. (Sugar has 15 calories per teaspoon and 4 calories per gram.)
“Added sugars” include table sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey and other sweeteners that provide calories.
Sugar is a source of glucose, a primary fuel for the body
Sugar is a carbohydrate. Carbohydrates, including starches and sugar, are the primary source of energy for the body. They are essential to fueling the body and the function of the central nervous system because most of them are broken down into glucose.
The science on sugar and health
Scientific evidence consistently shows that a healthy lifestyle based on moderation, a variety of food choices and physical activity tends to lead to the best outcomes compared with simply cutting out or adding one ingredient or another.1-4 Decades of evidence does not show adverse outcomes of sugar intake when sugar is consumed in moderation and within calorie needs.5-7
Systematic reviews of the literature have found that the effect of sugars on adiposity is dependent on both the food source and energy control.5,7,8 A recent analysis of controlled feeding trials showed that excess energy intake at high doses (≥20% energy or ≥100 g/day) of sugar-sweetened beverages, other sugary beverages and mixed sources of sugars leads to moderate increases in adiposity. Most other sources, including sweetened cereal grains and bars and sweetened dairy, show no adverse effect even at high doses and irrespective of energy control.13 In fact, some sources of added sugars, like flavored milk, are associated with increased nutrient adequacy. Other sources, such as sugar-sweetened beverages, are associated with lower nutrient adequacy.9,10
Since 1999, added sugars consumption has been on a significant decline in the United States, down from 18.1% of total calories reported in 1999-2000 to 12.9% reported in 2017-2018.11-13
References:
1. Anderson JJ, Celis-Morales CA, Mackay DF, et al. Adiposity among 132 479 UK Biobank participants; contribution of sugar intake vs other macronutrients, International Journal of Epidemiology, 2017;46(2):492-501.
2. Gardner CD, Trepanowski JF, Del Gobbo LC, et al. Effect of low-fat vs low-carbohydrate diet on 12-month weight loss in overweight adults and the association with genotype pattern or insulin secretion. JAMA. 2018;319(7):667-679.
3. Khan TA, Sievenpiper JL. Controversies about sugars: results from systematic reviews and metaanalyses on obesity, cardiometabolic disease and diabetes. European Journal of Nutrition. 2016;55(Suppl 2):S25-S43.
4. Jebb SA. Carbohydrates and obesity: from evidence to policy in the UK. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 2015;74(3):215-220.
5. Chiavaroli L, Cheung A, Ayoub-Charette S, et al. Important food sources of fructose-containing sugars and adiposity: A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled feeding trials. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2023;117:741-765.
6. Prinz P. The role of dietary sugars in health: molecular composition or just calories? European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2019;73:1216-1223.
7. Clemens RA, Jones JM, Kern M, et al. Functionality of sugars in foods and health. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. 2016;15(3):433-470.
8. EFSA NDA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens; Turck D, Bohn T, Castenmiller J, et al. Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for dietary sugars. EFSA Journal. 2022; 20(2):96- 337.
9. Ricciuto L, Fulgoni VL, Gaine PC, Scott MO, DiFrancesco L. Intakes of added sugars, with a focus on beverages and the associations with nutrient adequacy in US adults (NHANES 2003-2018). Nutrients. 2023;15(18):2916.
10. Ricciuto L, Fulgoni VL, Gaine PC, Scott MO, DiFrancesco L. Intakes of added sugars, with a focus on beverages and the associations with micronutrient adequacy in US children, adolescents, and teens (NHANES 2003-2018). Nutrients. 2023;15(15):3285.
11. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. 9th Edition. December 2020. Available at DietaryGuidelines.gov. Accessed January 14, 2021.
12. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Food Surveys Research Group, Beltsville, Maryland, Food Patterns Equivalents Databases and Datasets. Available at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=23869. Accessed November 25, 2020.
13. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Food Surveys Research Group, Beltsville, Maryland, WWEIA Data Tables. Available at: https:// www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md-bhnrc/beltsville-human-nutrition-research-center/ food-surveys-research-group/docs/wweia-data-tables/. Accessed November 25, 2020.